Corona discharge apparatus

ABSTRACT

A corona discharge device has an arrangement for easily varying the distance between the device and a photoreceptor surface, the arrangement including a plate spring for biasing the device in one direction, and a screw for moving the device against the bias of the plate spring. A supporting rail on which the corona discharge device is slidably mounted is held between flanges on the plate spring.

United States Patent Honda CORONA DISCHARGE APPARATUS 75] Inventor: KoHonda, Ebina, Japan 22] Filed: May 13, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 469,489

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 11, 1975 Primary E.\aminerL.T. Hix Attorney, Agent, or Firm.lames J. Ralabate; Bernard A. Chiama;Earl T. Reichert [5 7 ABSTRACT A corona discharge device has anarrangement for easily varying the distance between the device and aphotoreceptor surface, the arrangement including a plate spring forbiasing the device in one direction. and a screw for moving the deviceagainst the bias of the plate spring. A supporting rail on which thecorona discharge device is slidably mounted is held between flanges onthe plate spring.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures May 18, 1973 Japan 48-057832 [U] [52] US. Cl317/262 A [51] Int. CI.' G03G 15/02; HOlT 19/00 [58] Field of Search317/4, 262 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,8l 1,0485/1974 Matsumoto et al 317/262 A U.S. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 CORONADISCHARGE APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION electrostatic charge,and thereafter the latent image is developed by the employment of adeveloping agent containing electrostatically suctioned corpuscles, thenthe image thus developed is either fixed as it is or transcribed onother image supporting substand and properly fixed.

It is required of a corona discharge apparatus that proper discharge beconducted in a uniform manner and free from excess or deficiency, sinceirregularity, excess or deficiency in discharge affects the quality of aduplicate a great deal. As a matter of fact, the irregularity, excess ordeficiency in discharge has been given birth thus far by irregularity inthe distance between a photosensitive substance and a discharger proper,which constitutes a reasonable and valid reason therefor. Now, here willbe given a description ofthe outline of the construction of a coronadischarge apparatus. The principal section of a corona dischargeapparatus is a discharger proper that is assigned a function ofconducting proper discharge by arranging insulation blocks at the bothends in a slender metal shield of a concave section, by bridging a fineelectrode wire made of metal over the blocks, and by supplying the saidfine electrode wire with high voltage, thus effectuating properdischarge.

In the case of setting the said discharger proper regularly in place inthe interior of a duplicator, the conventional method generally followedused to be such that j a rail for supporting the discharger proper wasarranged on a supporting base, for instance, on the frame of aduplicator or on brackets, and the discharge proper used to be caused toslide on the said rail by means of a groove formed on the bottom thereofas a guide therefor. The reasons why the siad supporting rail was thusused lied in that the discharger proper needed be dislocated offposition frequently for the purpose of cleaning the said fine wire ofthe electrode or of repairing such when cut, and the same is applied tothe present invention; however, in the conventional case, the

rail was arranged on the supporting base in a direct man er, andadjustment of the distance between a photosensitive substance and adischarger proper used to be effectuated by proper adjustment of theconnection between the rail and the supporting base. This was a quitetroublesome work, and especially in case the adjustment was conducted inthe course of assembly and some irregularity was located by aninspection after the completion of a duplicator as a whole, many an hourused to be required for the readjustment thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, to put it in details,relates to a mechanism for adjusting the distance between a coronadischarge apparatus employed for the electrification, the discharge, andthe transcription of a photosensitive substance of the above-mentionedduplicator of the electronic photography system and the photosensitivesubstance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONA discharger proper 1, with insulation blocks 3 (of which only one endis shown in the drawing) properly arranged at the both ends of an oblongmetal shield 2 of a concave section, with a fine wire electrode 4-madeof a metal properly set in place to bridge over between the said blocks,and with a groove 5 formed on the bottom thereof, is so designed as toslide along a supporting rail 6 of the said discharger proper 1 and thesaid groove 5 selected as the guides, andis so positioned as to beconfronted with a drum 7 constituting a photosensitive substance over acertain distance a properly maintained therefor. Though not shown in thedrawing, such a method that a tup is formed'through the bottom of thesupporting rail 6 and a set screw is inserted therein from the side ofthe supporting base 9 may well be followed for the purpose ofeffectuating peoper adjustment. To add up thereto, it is desirable thatan adjusting mechanism comprising the plate spring 10, the set screw 11and the supporting base 9 set forth above be arranged near the both endsof the supporting rail 6, i.e., at two spots, whereby the distancebetween the drum 7 and the discharger proper 1 can be properly adjustedso as to be constant at any point in the longitudinal direction. As canbe seen, supporting rail 6 is held between flanges 12.

As elucidated above, the present invention aims to provide such adischarge apparatus as is capable of conducting discharge in a uniformmanner and in the most suitable manner; therefore, it proves to be quiteeffective for obtaining a duplicate of a superb quality.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination of a corona discharge device having an elongatedshield and. a corona wire mounted within and extending along the shield,with an improved apparatus for adjustably supporting the device adjacentto a photosensitive surface, the. improvement comprising:

a supporting base, means forming a channel along the shield, 21supporting rail confined within the channel for supporting the device onthe base adjacent to the photosensitive surface, a plate spring disposedat each end of the rail, each plate spring being interposed between thebase and the rail and adapted to bias the rail in a first direction,each of the plate springs having flange means thereon for confining therail therebetween, and screw means for adjustably moving the rail to adesired position against the bias of each of the plate springs andretaining the rail in the desired position.

1. The combination of a corona discharge device having an elongatedshield and a corona wire mounted within and extending along the shield,with an improved apparatus for adjustably supporting the device adjacentto a photosensitive surface, the improvement comprising: a supportingbase, means forming a channel along the shield, a supporting railconfined within the channel for supporting the device on the baseadjacent to the photosensitive surface, a plate spring disposed at eachend of the rail, each plate spring being interposed between the base andthe rail and adapted to bias the rail in a first direction, each of theplate springs having flange means thereon for confining the railtherebetween, and screw means for adjustably moving the rail to adesired position against the bias of each of the plate springs andretaining the rail in the desired position.